Setas

Today we bring you an adaptation of the fideuá from Spain’s eastern coast, which is mainly made with fish and seafood. Everyone knows my dislike for fish, so when my mom made this dish, swapping the fish for pork secreto, I jumped right on it.

What do we need?

• 200 g (7 oz) pork secreto

• 200 g (7 oz) fideuá pasta

• Water

• Mushrooms

• Saffron

• Salt

• Olive oil

• Paprika

• Garlic

• Parmesan cheese

How do we make it?

• Pour a splash of olive oil into a large pot, sauté the garlic, add the meat and mushrooms with a pinch of salt, and cook everything together. Add a bit of paprika.

• Once it’s nicely sautéed, toss in the noodles and stir everything together so they pick up the flavor.

• Add twice as much water as pasta (or a bit more if you want it slightly brothy).

• Let it cook for about 15-20 minutes, adding a pinch of saffron and a little more paprika along the way.

• When plating, shave a few slices of parmesan cheese and lay them on top.

Tips:

• We used shiitake mushrooms, but it turns out great with any kind of mushroom.

• If you don’t have pork secreto, you can use any tender cut of pork.

• The original recipe calls for ñoras (dried sweet red peppers), which are crushed and added to the sofrito. If you can find them (and don’t get scared off by the price), they give the dish a special touch.

*[English version] FIDEUÁ ** *Ingredients:

• 200 g (7 oz) pork meat

• 200 g (7 oz) fideuá pasta

• Water

• Mushrooms

• Saffron

• Salt

• Olive oil

• Paprika

• Garlic

• Parmesan cheese

• Gently fry the chopped garlic with a bit of olive oil in a cooking pot. Add meat and mushrooms, some salt, and cook. Add paprika.

• When it is slightly cooked, add the pasta and gently fry all the ingredients together to mix the flavors.

• Add the water (twice the amount of pasta. For instance, if you used 2 cups of pasta, add 4 cups of water. You can add a bit of extra water if you like a soupy dish.)

• Add some saffron and a bit more paprika and cook for around 15-20 minutes.

• Slice parmesan cheese and place it over the fideuá before serving.

Tips:

- We used shiitake mushrooms, but any kind of mushroom will be delicious.

- The original recipe uses ‘ñora’ (dried red spicy pepper). You can use it if you like spicy flavors. Add it when slightly frying all the ingredients (step 1).

Comments

la enana (2013-03-04 13:40:11):

The recipe was delicious! I made it the other day and we loved it! I used paprika instead of pimentón because I haven’t been able to find it around here, and although the result was very good, in my opinion the flavor pimentón gives is even better.

It’s been a while since I made my first risotto. I think I learned it from Arguiñano, back when my mom and I used to watch him at lunchtime. I have a feeling I also followed the recipe from some Wii video game once. Anyway, I’ve been tweaking, adapting and improvising on top of the fundamental rule for a good risotto: never stop stirring.

What do we need?

(serves two)

•   1 ½ cups short-grain rice
  

•   Warm water
  

•   2 cloves of garlic
  

•   A quarter of a large onion
  

•   Wild mushrooms / button mushrooms
  

•   100 g (3.5 oz) blue cheese
  

•   Salt
  

How do we make it?

• Add a splash of olive oil to a saucepan.

• Dice the blue cheese into small cubes. Finely chop the garlic and onion.

• Add the garlic and onion to the pan and turn the heat down a bit so they don’t burn. Once they’ve softened a little, add the mushrooms cut into medium-sized pieces.

• Let everything cook together for a few minutes and add a pinch of salt.

• Once the sofrito is ready, add the rice and stir well so the rice soaks up the flavor.

• Now, the usual thing would be to add twice as much water as rice and let it cook. We’re going to add just a bit of water — about half a cup (120 ml / 4 fl oz) if we used a cup and a half of rice.

• While stirring, add salt and a bit of blue cheese. Once everything is well mixed and the water has reduced, lower the heat a little.

• Without stopping stirring, keep adding more water (as much as your risotto asks for) and blue cheese.

• When you see the rice is cooked, turn off the heat, cover, and let it rest for as long as it takes you to slice some thin strips of blue cheese to decorate the plate.

Tips:

• We used blue cheese, but you can use any other kind. If you don’t like strong cheese, an aged cheese will thicken it more and barely taste of cheese.
• For decoration you can also add hazelnuts, walnuts or almonds.
• If you don’t have wild mushrooms, you can swap them for button mushrooms.

[English version] RISOTTO MY WAY **Ingredients:- 1 ½ medium-grain rice

• 3 cups warm water

• 2 cloves of onion

• ¼ large onion

• Mushrooms

• 100 g blue cheese

• Salt

• Add a splash of olive oil in a sauce pan.

• Dice blue cheese and chop garlic and onion.

• Add garlic and onion to the sauce pan and fry slowly to avoid burning. When they have softened, add the mushrooms (if they are too big, you can cut them into medium-size pieces).

• Cook slowly for some minutes and add a pinch of salt.

• When ready, add the rice and keep stirring while everything is cooking and flavors are melting.

• Usually we add 2 parts of water to 1 part of rice. For risotto recipe we will be adding all the water needed progressively.

• While stirring, add some salt and part of blue cheese. Stir well and turn down the heat to a simmer.

• Keep stirring and adding the water and blue cheese, allowing each ladle to be absorbed before adding the next.

• When rice is cooked and soft, place a lid on the pan and allow to sit. Slice some blue cheese for decoration.

  Tips:- You can use any kind of cheese. Blue cheese has quite a strong flavour but you can substitute it by any other softer.

• For decoration, you can add some walnuts, almonds or nuts.

• You can use mushrooms (champignons) or any other wild mushrooms.